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Thursday, December 10, 2009

The double standards in demonstrations

I had hoped to post about this yesterday, but the w word intervened again (that's w for work - not wife!) and it had to wait.

Basically, it's about the double standards that exist in society today at all levels as demonstrated by the repeated calls in the media, from the police and various politicians for a group opposed to the islamification of Europe to call off a planned protest in Harrow later this month.

Personally speaking, I don't like marches, protests and demonstrations. It's not that I have a problem with them in principle - I don't - my main concern is that the vast majority of them are now hijacked and controlled by large politically motivated groups which often have no real interest in the local issue other than an opportunity to push their own political dogma.

Hence a minor protest by a group of residents concerned about council plans to turn their allotments into a block of flats gets taken over by Greenpeace and turned into a mass worldwide demonstration against "climate change". That's a bit of an extreme example, but I do know of some instances where something like that has happened and the original complaint of the protesters has been forgotten in the end.

Having said all that, I do recognise the right of anyone to peaceful protest - but it seems that certain elements in society, including elements of authority, do not. The group calling itself "Stop The Islamification Of Europe" have been urged to call off their planned protest outside Harrow mosque because it is alleged that it may spark violence.

Why would it? If, as we are frequently told, Islam is the Religion of Peace then why would there be any violence? Are the protesters planning to beat each other up?

The actual concern is not with the original march - but that counter demonstrators from so called "anti-fascist" groups are planning to do whatever they can to curtail the rights of fellow citizens to hold demonstrations. Incredibly, the irony of such a plan is lost on these "anti-fascist" groups who can not seem to understand that their attempts to silence other opinions is itself fascistic in nature or indeed that they are demonstrating in favour of Islam, an ideology which embodies fascistic principles.

If the police, media and politicians are really concerned about the possibility of violence then they should be telling these anti-free speech groups to call off their protest as that is far more likely to spark violence. Indeed, it is actually the intention of these groups to provoke violence as that is the tactic which will see the protest by SIOE abandoned and increase the likelihood that future planned marches by the group will be prevented by the authorities.

But these "anti-fascist" groups are are not some cobbled together group of concerned citizens. They are funded by the mainstream parties - including the Tories - and the unions. They are made up of well known left wing political activists, communists and anti-capitalists and they have not been shy in using violence and intimidation in the past.

Personally, as I've hinted at, I'm opposed to the protest by SIOE outside Harrow mosque. If the people of Harrow want to protest then they should be free to do so, but I don't like large political groups doing this sort of thing. If SIOE want to protest they should do so outside government offices and buildings. ANY organisation or group of protesters which is not local to the place in which they are protesting should be restricted to holding their protest in designated areas - such as public parks or town squares - but that is just my personal opinion.

However, given that our regulations permit these groups to hold their protest outside a mosque in Harrow then they should be permitted to do so and not be subject to intimidation by counter protests or by the authorities to abandon their lawful demonstration.